Eastern Rhinos Rugby League Club are the only active Rugby League Club in Suffolk and North Essex. The club, now based in Colchester, has been around since 1992 and plays matches in the Southern Conference League. Under the guidance of head coach Pete Le Marquand the club has had various levels of success and had individual players playing representative rugby league regionally, internationally, for Universities and other clubs.

The last few years have seen a steady expansion of the Rhinos junior teams and, as a result, more young players in East Anglia are starting promising careers in rugby league.

Now Eastern Rhinos can add another chapter of success as two young players, Euan Parke and Arthur Wildish, by following different routes, have both worked their way into the squads of Championship clubs.

Both young men played Rugby Union at Bury St Edmunds RFC coached by Chris Oxborrow (Chris’s company, OX-C Engineering, now sponsors Euan at London Broncos). At age 13 Euan and Arthur took up Rugby League influenced by Eastern Rhinos Primary section founder: Michael “Andy” Anderson. At age 16, they were both selected for the North London Origin team which provides an accessible pathway for young players toward professional rugby league via professional academies.

From here Euan was selected to train and play with the London Broncos scholarship programme where he excelled with both U17, U18 teams and Bronco’s reserves. He was awarded a first team contract at the beginning of the 2023 season. At the same time he studied at college and then went on to be accepted at St Mary’s University where he has been awarded a Rugby League Scholarship to go with his First Team contract at London Broncos. Arthur stayed with Eastern Rhinos and developed at his own rate progressing through all the club’s age group teams. At 17 he captained the U18 team and also played for the (open age) development team. At 18, he earned a first team call up and played throughout the 2022 Southern Conference League season. After A levels, he set his sights very high in the University Rugby league scheme and applied to Northumbria University with the challenge of getting himself into Jason Payne’s highly successful team. He started well, has shown consistent improvement and has been invited to join Newcastle Thunder and has gained a spot in the reserve team

For both lads the story gets interesting now. Euan is aiming for a regular first team spot (he made his debut in the recent Challenge cup victory over Doncaster) and Arthur is relishing the challenge of stepping up another level. When Newcastle and London reserves meet up again both former Rhinos team mates could find themselves on opposing sides!

Eastern Rhinos coach Pete Le Marquand has had success with other players reaching this level but pays tribute to both players/ had this to say:

“Both Arthur and Euan have worked extremely hard to get to the level they are currently at. Although I'd love to have them playing for us every week, it's a great advertisement for keen athletes in our area to see that by joining our club there are multiple routes to progress. Euan and Arthur have now become role models for the next batch of younger players at Eastern Rhinos. I have to thank all of their previous coaches who have done a great job in helping their progression and their parents who give them immense support. ”

In the grand scheme of M62 dominated Rugby League this is not a significant shift in the balance of player supply but it shows that, although both players have suffered adversity through potentially serious injuries and lost playing time through Covid lockdowns, with the right application and determination Southerners can play at high levels of Rugby League.

The future is bright for Rugby League in the South East as there has been clear and consistent growth in younger age groups. Rhinos are now consistently able to field teams at U12, U14, U16 and U18. This growth may lead to more opportunities for young players to follow the development pathway and experience the professional sport through both the Origin and Academy programmes or through other routes players can take.